1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image processing apparatus with a function to control the right to access stored data that have been processed and stored by the image processing apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, when a user executes operations (a series of operations performed at one time is referred to as a “job”) on an image processing apparatus, such as a multifunction machine, the user inputs an identifier for user identification to the image processing apparatus, and the image processing apparatus checks the input identifier against a list of identifiers held therein to determine whether the user is an authorized user or not. After the identifier checking, the admitted user is allowed to execute jobs on the image processing apparatus permitted for the user according to his/her own access right.
In addition, image processing apparatus in the related art typically have a function to store, as a log, data processed by the image processing apparatus in response to a request by a user. For example, if an image processing apparatus performs a job of printing a file attached to a received electronic mail (hereafter referred to as an “email”), the image processing apparatus stores, as a log, the attached file in a storage device provided either inside or outside the image processing apparatus.
In the related art, in the case of a conventional image processing apparatus configured to store as logs data processed by the image processing apparatus in response to requests by users as described above, access right to read the stored data is not permitted at all or is exclusively given to an administrator of the image processing apparatus. However, the administrator is not always the top of members of the user's work environment where the image processing apparatus is installed. For example, in some cases, an ordinary staff member assumes the role of the administrator as a part of his/her work, or, in other cases, the administration of the image processing apparatus is outsourced to a temporarily-hired external worker.
The data handled by a user of an image processing apparatus sometimes include documents that are confidential and not meant to be seen by other staff members.
A technique to store and manage such confidential data is disclosed in, for example, JP 2006-72892A. According to JP 2006-72892A, the image processing apparatus creates file names usable for storing input data by combining the input data with key data stored in advance in the apparatus, displays the usable file names to prompt a user to select one of the usable file names, and stores the data with the file name thus determined. In this way, each piece of the stored data can have a name that allows the user to easily guess the content of the stored data when the user accesses the stored data later.